Vacuum arc-lamp.



Patented Nov. 7, I899. J. H. L008.

VACUUM ARC LAMP.

(Apphcatmn filed Dec 15 1898 1 Model.)

. of the positive carbon.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. LOOS, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

VACUUM ARC-LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,270, dated November 7, 1899.

Application filed December 15,1898- Serial No. 699,302. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. LOOS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orange, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum Arc-Lamps, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to that class of arc-lamps in which the carbons are wholly inclosed Within the exhausted globe and are thus consumed very slowly; and the object of the present invention is to obviate the use of automatic regulating and feeding appliances for the positive carbon and to substitute a means of feeding one of the carbons by hand when requiredby the consumption With this change in the construction of the lamp it is possible to greatly simplify the electromagnetic attachment, which in my invention is required merely to separate the carbons when the circuit is closed, so as to form the are.

In carrying out my invention I provide the globe, preferably at the top, with a tubular guide, inside of which an armature-block is permitted to move to a limited extent sufficient only to separate the carbons when forming the arc, and the clamp or holder for one of the carbons is attached to such armatureblock,while the opposite carbon-clamp is sup ported upon a screw or other suitable means for adjusting such carbon by hand. A magnet core or coil is fixed upon the globe adjacent to the guide and is placed in circuit with the carbons, so as to attract the armatureblock when the circuit is closed, and thus separate them sufficiently to form the arc.

The electromagnetic attachment is thus a nonfeeding appliance for merely forming the arc, and the feeding of the carbons to subsequently maintain the are or to regulate the same when the current is first supplied is efiected, at the judgment of the operator, by manually-operated means. The electromagnet may be arranged upon the outer side of the exhausted globe and operated through the wall of the globe upon an armature carrying the carbonholder, or the core of the electromagnet may be extended within the exhausted globe and the joint hermetically sealed, so that the pole of the magnet may operate in closer relation to the armature. A portion of the globe may be extended in tubular form to support asolenoid-coil with the core of the solenoid fitted movably inside the tubular extension to support and actuate the carbon.

The consumption of the carbon is so slight in an exhausted globe that the carbons require only occasional adjustment, and such adjustment may be effected bya screw holder fitted tightly through one end of the exhausted globe and adjusted by an operator at suitable intervals.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section at the center line Where hatched of a vacuum arc-lamp, hav ing the core of the carbon-moving magnet extended through the wall of the globe and hermetically sealed therein. Fig. 2 is a plan of such lamp. Fig. 3 is an elevation in section at the center line where hatched of a lamp with the core of the carbonmoving magnet not extended through the wall of the globe. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4 4c in Fig. 3, showing means for magnetically rotating the screw holder of the lower carbon. Fig. 5 is an elevation, upon a larger scale, of the lower-carbon holder and its supportingsocket. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the upper part of the lamp, having a solenoid to actuate the upper carbon. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the guide for the upper-carbon clamp, and Fig. 8 a side elevation of the armature formed with the upper-carbon holder.

A designates the exhausted globe, B the upper carbon, and B the lower carbon.

C designates the upper carbon holder, moved by the electromagnet-core D or solenoid-coil D.

E designates a tubular guide supported in the upper part of the globe toguide the holder O in line with the lower carbon.

F designates the lower-carbon holder, and G G designate metal heads secured upon opposite ends of the globe by tie-rods H.

The globe is formed in Fig. 1 with an opening at each end and annular projections a, fitted to grooves g in the heads and secured hermetically thereto by cement, so as to furnish means for hermetically closing the openings in the heads.

2' esasvo The core D is locked within the head by a nut d and is extended through the upper wall of the globe, where a pole-piece D is affixed by means of a central screw. The tubular guide E is formed with an inwardlyturned flange to be clamped by such polepiece, which holds it rigidly against the end of the core and in line with the lower-carbon holder F. The armature C is of cylindrical form and fitted to move freely within the guide. The guide iscontracted or formed with an interior collar at the lower end and is constructed to permit only a limited movement of the block 0 suliicient to close the circuit by the contact of the carbons and to form the are by their separation. he armature-block is provided upon its lower end, as shown in Fig. 8, with elastic jaws, forming a socket to hold the carbon B. One terminal of the magnet-coil D is connected with a binding-post l to receive the supply of cur rent, and the other terminal 2' is connected with the binding-post t upon the guide E, from which the current passes by contact to the armature O and the carbon B. A binding-post I furnishes a connection with the conductor 1 which carries the current through one of the rods H to the lower head G and carbon-holder F, thus completing the circuit through the carbons when they are in contact. The lower-carbon holder F is titted by a tight screw-thread through the center of the lower head G and is provided with a central passage f for exhausting the air from the globe. A screw-plug valve f is provided to close the passage f, and the lower end of the socketpiece is provided with a screw-thread F to couple with the exhausting apparatus, the coupling E and its connection 3 only being shown upon such screw-thread. At the close of the exhausting operation the valve f is closed and the coupling withdrawn, when a cap F (shown in Fig. 2) may beapplied to the screw-thread F to doubly exclude air from the passage. The lower carbon in Fig. 1 is held by jaws c upon the socket-piece F. With this construction it is evident that the passage of the current through the coil D (when the carbons are in contact) serves to energize the core D and attracts the armature C, so as to separate the carbons sufficiently to form the are, as represented in Fig. 1. The armature-block C is shown lifted into contact with the pole-piece D, which checks its'upward movement, while its lower movement in practice is regulated by the adjustment of the lower carbon at a suitable distance from the upper carbon to form the are. 77 hen the circuit is broken, the armature-block falls (within the guide E) until the carbons are in contact, which places the lamp in readiness to be lighted automatically and the are formed, when the current is again turned on.

The lower carbon is adjusted to properly form the are by turning the screw-thread upon the lower-carbon holder F within the threaded aperture of the head G, a hexagonal neck (1 being shown beneath the screwed portion to apply a wrench. The construction shown in Figs. 3 and -ldi'lfers from that just described in having the upper part of the globe made integral and the guide E secured within the top of the same by cement. With this construction the pole of the core D is placed in contact with the outer side of the globe and operates magnetically upon the armature-block O to actuate the carbons, as already described, the circuit connections being the same as already set forth.

A means is illustrated in the lower part of Fig. 3 for adjusting the lower carbon vertically without turning the socket F, and thus avoiding the possibility of inducing leakage of air in the threaded aperture of the head G after the globe has been exhausted. In Fig. 3 the socket-piece is shown with an integral collar to clamp a packing against the head G to make an absolutely tight joint, and the socket-piece F is formed with a central bore or socket threaded in the upper end to receive a screw holder 6 to sustain the lower carbon adjustably. The head of the socket-piece F, as shown in Fig. 5, is formed with a series of vertical grooves b, and the screw holder is formed with a hinged pawl 0, having an armature-weight c at its extremity, by which it may be magnetically lifted and turned within the globe.

A magnet h is shown in Figs. 3 and 4- fitted to move in an annular groove j around the globe in'proximity to the weight c and may be operated to lift the weight by magnetic attraction sufficiently to withdraw the pawl from the grooves 79 and to turn the carbonholder 0 upon its axis in either direction. Such rotation of the holder in its screwed socket raises or lowers the carbon B without moving the socket-piece F or in any way atfecting its joint with the globe. The lower carbon may thus be set at a suitable distance from the upper carbon to form or to regulate the arc, and the carbons may be maintained in an operative relation for a long time without opening the globe to renew or adjust the carbons.

6 shows the glass of the globe formed at the top with a tubular extension A, closed at the upper end to preserve the vacuum, and encircled by the solenoid-coil D The uppercarbon holder 0 is formed as a core-piece or armature for such solenoid and is represented in its upper position with the carbons separated, as occurs when the current is passed through the coil D". The circuit connections are the same as shown for the other figures, with the conductor t' passed through the wall of the globe and the joint hermetically sealed in any suitable manner. These illustrations suffice to show how the carbons maybe moved within the exhausted globe, one of them to automatically form the are when the current is supplied and the other to furnish an adjustment for the are when necessary, at inin Fig. 1 the separation of the cartervals.

bons when the current is supplied is limited by the contact of the armature-block O with the pole-piece D. In Fig. 3 it is limited by the contact of the armature-block with the top of the globe, and in Fig. 6 it is limited by the contact of the solenoid-core with the top of the tubular extension A, and any other means for limiting the movement of the upper carbon may be provided. The magnetic devices for separating the carbons are shown herein of the simplest character; but any other equivalent device may be used Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The carbons are referred to herein as upper and lower, assuming that they would be arranged one above the other, as is common in arc-lamps; but such arrangement is not necessary with my construction, as the carbons may be arranged horizontally where it is desired to throw the light downward more effectively, as the means for separating the carbons will operate in any position.

In Fig. 6 a spiral spring Ct is shown fitted within the upper end of the movable piece C to contact with the head of the tubular extension A, and thus force the carbons together in whatever position they may be placed, the operation of the spring being entirely neutralized when the current operates upon the solenoid to retract the carbons, as already described.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimed herein is- 1. In a vacuum arc-lamp, the combination, with an exhausted globe wholly containing electric-light carbons, of an armature-block movable within the globe and operating to move one of the carbons, an electromagnet in circuit with the carbons for attracting the armature, a screw-socket secured in the bottom of the globe, a screw holder for the lower carbon fitted adjustably in such socket, and magnetically operated means for rotating such holder within the socket to adjust the lower carbon, substantially as herein set forth.

2. In a vacuum arc-lamp, the combination, with an exhausted globe A wholly containing electric-light carbons B, B, of a stationary magnet-core D fixed at the top of the globe outside the wall of the same, a vertical guide E within the top of the globe with an armature-block 0 having a short limited movement therein adjacent to the magnet-pole and provided with the upper-carbon clamp, a coil D upon the magnet-core in circuit with the carbons and arranged and operated to attract the armature-block to form an are when the circuit is closed through the carbons, and means for adjusting the negative carbon within the bottom of the globe to regulate the arc, and to compensate for the consumption of the carbons, substantially as herein set forth.

3. In a vacuum arc-lamp, the combination, with an exhausted globe A wholly containing electric-light carbons B, B, of a stationary magnet-core D fixed at the top of the globe outside the wall of the same, a vertical guide E within the top of the globe with an armature-block 0 having a short limited movement therein adjacent to the magnet-pole and provided with the upper-carbon clamp, amagnet-coil D upon such core in circuit with the carbons, and arranged and operated to attract the armature-block to form an are when the circuit is closed through the carbons, a screw-socket extended within the bottom of the globe, and a screw holder for the lower carbon fitted adj ustably in such socket to compensate at intervals for the consumption of the carbons.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN H. LOOS.

Witnesses:

W. F. D. CRANE, THOMAS S. CRANE. 

